The following events all happened during this week in Mississippi history.

Year: 1884: Historian J.
F. H. Claiborne, the father of Mississippi history
died, less than two months after a fire at his home in Natchez, Mississippi,
destroyed the manuscript of what would have been volume two of his history
of Mississippi. (May 17)

1899: Railroad magnate Edward H. Harriman embarked on a scientific
expedition to Alaska, which became the subject of Looking Far North:
The Harriman Expedition to Alaska, 1899, by Mississippi writer Kay
Sloan and William H. Goetzmann. (May 23)

1909:Anne Clark, a former ambassadors wife and author
of several books, was born in Metcalfe, Mississippi. (May 19)

1919: Science writer William C. Harrison was born in Corinth,
Mississippi. (May 19)

1919: Novelist and short story writer Berry
Morgan was born in Port Gibson, Mississippi. (May 20)

1922: Journalist Bill Minor was born. (May 17)

1925:William
Faulkner published Chance in the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
(May 17)

1925: English professor William Edward Walker was born
in Meridian, Mississippi. (May 20)

1936: Poet Glen R. Swetman was born in Biloxi, Mississippi.
(May 20)

1937: A Piece of News by Eudora
Welty was accepted for publication by Southern Review.
It appeared later heavily revised in A Curtain of Green. (May 17)

1979:Eudora Weltys
Ida MToy was published by the University of Illinois Press
in Urbana. (May 20)

NEWS about MISSISSIPPI WRITERS

Time running out for Oxford American magazine

May 15, 2002

OXFORD, Miss. (AP)  What many consider
the contemporary creative voice of Southern literature could very well be forced
into silence in a few weeks.

Oxford
American, the National Magazine Award winner thats been financially
challenged since its inception 10 years ago, is on the brink of folding if a
new backer isnt found soon. Best-selling author John
Grisham, the magazines publisher, financier and patron saint since
1994, and editor Marc Smirnoff decided a year ago that it was time for the magazine
to either break even or cease operations.

In a May 2 e-mail to some 150 contributing writers
and friends, Smirnoff said last years music issue was a modest financial
success, and the follow-up fall issue made even more money, but the winter movie
issue was a flop by advertising standards. In the e-mail, which spread quickly
in literary circles, Smirnoff said the publication  billed as The
Southern Magazine of Good Writing  had two weeks to find new ownership.

As Jeeves told Wooster, where theres
life theres hope, so were still not giving up on finding investors
or buyers who want to see the OA continue, Smirnoff wrote.

In an interview last week with The Associated
Press, Smirnoff said hes had numerous responses from possible backers
who want to sustain the magazine, which has featured the works of William F.
Buckley Jr., Donna Tartt, Barry
Hannah, Roy Blount Jr., Larry
Brown and Willie Morris,
among others.

All of a sudden I went from feeling like
things were pretty grim to feeling sort of oddly optimistic, he said.
I think somethings going to happen.

Smirnoff said hes received word from
Grisham that the author  a former Oxford resident and Mississippi legislator
 may extend the two-week deadline.

Over the years, Grisham has devoted not only
money but his writing talents to keep Oxford American afloat. The magazine
serialized his novel A Painted House in 2000.

Grisham, whos written such blockbusters
as The Client and The Firm and his latest work, The Summons,
could not be reached for comment.

Smirnoff said Grishams requirements are
simple. John is willing to sell his majority interest if we can find a
person, group or company thats willing to commit to the magazine,
he said. Hes willing to listen to any proposal that's reasonable.

Smirnoff made the magazines financial
difficulties public in last summers critically acclaimed music issue,
which featured a CD with music from B.B. King, Billy Bob Thornton, Dolly Parton
and Emmylou Harris. In a letter to readers, he said the magazine would start
publishing quarterly instead of bimonthly, but the subscription price of $19.95
would remain the same. Smirnoff also warned that the number of subscribers needed
to grow from 30,000 to 38,000 by years end.

The number grew enough to proceed into 2002,
he said. But even though the latest issue of the magazine is complete, it is
stranded at the printer for lack of money.

Samir Husni, author of the annual Guide
to New Consumer Magazines and a journalism professor at the University
of Mississippi, said low circulation is largely to blame for Oxford Americans
woes. With 100,000 subscribers, the magazine would have a healthy revenue flow
and the readership to attract national advertising, Husni said.

To get there, though, the costs are unbelievable,
he said. They were never able to get over the hump that this is not a
regional magazine said Husni, who helped Oxford American create
a marketing plan two years ago. Yes, its a national magazine of
southern good writing, but it was always viewed by the national markets as regional,
no matter what, he said.

The floundering economy and lower ad sales
have made things increasingly difficult. This year has already seen the decline
of Talk and Homestyle. Several other magazines also have shut
down recently, including Mademoiselle and The Industry Standard.

Smirnoff said hes thankful for Grishams
patience and money, not bitter over his decision to pull out. All I know
is that hes put more money into this magazine than he ever thought he
would. And he has repeatedly saved us, Smirnoff said in a March interview
from his office in a small house near Oxford Square, best known as one of the
haunts of William Faulkner.
This magazine would have died eight or 10 painful deaths if it hadnt
been for his generosity and faith.

The event will begin on Friday, May 24, with
a reception, an art show, and a one-man show, Willie Remembers, featuring
actor Jack Stevens and producer JoAnne Prichard Morris.

Saturday morning, the guest speakers and southern
writers will speak on this years theme, The Importance of Place.
Writers will also be available to sign books. The day concludes at Glenwood
Cemetery near Willie Morris’gravesite with brief remarks, a performance by gospel
singers, and the playing of “Taps” (which happens to be the title of Morris
last, posthumously published novel).

The first two-hundred years of Western
civilization in the Americas was a time when fundamental and sometimes
catastrophic changes occurred in Native American communities in the South.

In The Transformation of the Southeastern
Indians, historians, anthropologists, and archaeologists provide perspectives
on how this era shaped American Indian society for later generations and
how it even affects these communities today.

This collection of essays presents the
most current scholarship on the social history of the South, identifying
and examining the historical forces, trends, and events that were attendant
to the formation of the Indians of the colonial South.

The essayists discuss how Southeastern
Indian culture and society evolved. They focus on such aspects as the
introduction of European diseases to the New World, long-distance migration
and relocation, the influences of the Spanish mission system, the effects
of the English plantation system, the northern fur trade of the English,
and the French, Dutch, and English trade of Indian slaves and deerskins
in the South.

This book covers the full geographic and
social scope of the Southeast, including the indigenous peoples of Florida,
Virginia, Maryland, the Appalachian Mountains, the Carolina Piedmont,
the Ohio Valley, and the Central and Lower Mississippi Valleys.

Robbie Ethridge is an assistant professor
of anthropology and southern studies at the University of Mississippi.
Charles Hudson is Franklin Professor of Anthropology and History at the
University of Georgia.

Morris died in 1999, and its hard
to accept that this is his last book. The gritty but poignant writings
of the Mississippian who served as editor at Harper’s in the 1960s
have included a book about his childhood dog and one about his cat, but
most famously, North Toward Home (1967), in which he recalled the
South of his childhood. Taps is a summary statement of Morris’
fondness for the Mississippi where he came of age, and as such, the novel
reads like a memoir of childhood and youth.

The main character is Swayze Barksdale,
who, at age 16, is busy gathering impressions of the adult world at a
time when the Korean War is waging. A trumpet player, Swayze has plenty
of opportunity to observe those around him when he plays “Taps” at the
funerals of deceased hometown GIs. Swayze has a best friend, who teaches
him about companionship; he has a girlfriend, who teaches him about early
love and sexuality; and he has an adult friend, whose life and death teach
Swayze the ultimate lessons in love and loss.

Best
of the Oxford American
Edited by Marc Smirnoff and Rick Bragg
Hill Street Press (Paperback, $16.95, ISBN: 1588180816)
Publication date: May 2002

Description:

A comprehensive anthology of The Oxford
American’s most memorable pieces published during the first decade
of the magazine’s existence, these articles prove provocative, opinionated,
and irreverent. The Oxford American has served as an incubator
and archive for the most promising and most established voices in contemporary
Southern writing. It offers up an extraordinary range of perspectives
on a multitude of subjects, while always avoiding the hackneyed notion
of the South as the exclusive province of the gothic or the sentimental
dominion of moonlight and magnolias. Collected here are the magazine’s
stellar fiction and poetry offered alongside its best commentary, profiles,
photography, comics, and reporting on politics, history, religions, art,
books, film, and humor.

AUTHOR EVENTS: Book Signings, Readings, and Appearances

May 17: Square Books, Oxford, Mississippi, 5:00 p.m.

Australian novelist Tim Winton will read
and sign copies of his novel Dirt Music. Visit www.squarebooks.com
for details.

May 18-19: Lake Tiak-OKhata, Louisville, Mississippi

The Mississippi Poetry Society, which
celebrates its 70th anniversary this year, will hold its Spring Festival
at Lake Tiak-O’Khata, near Louisville, on May 18 and 19. Featured speaker
will be Carolyn Elkins, an assistant professor of English at Delta State
University since 1989. She has presented poetry and writing workshops
at the local, state, and national levels. She has given more than 50 poetry
readings in the last several years, is a published poet and short story
writer. She is a member of the Mississippi Poetry Society as well as several
other writing and poetry groups. Her poems have been published in such
periodicals as Asheville Poetry Review, New Delta Review, Earth News,
and Tapestry.

Jeanne Kelly, current Poet of the Year,
will also be on hand to sign her new collection, published by MPS, From
Sunrise to Sunset. Awards will be given for winning poetry in the
annual contest.

For more information on the event, contact
Brenda Finnegan, MPS president, at writeawa@bellsouth.net or Dr. Emory
D. Jones at ejones@necc.cc.ms.us.

May 23: Square Books, Oxford, Mississippi, 5:00 p.m.

M.A. Harper will read from her second
novel, The Worst Day of My Life, So Far. Visit www.squarebooks.com
for details.

May 24: Lemuria Books, Jackson, Mississippi, 5:00 p.m.

Claire T. Feild, author of Mississippi
Delta Women in Prism, will be signing from her book of narrative poems.
Visit www.lemuriabooks.com
for details.